Thurles betting with William Hill
Thurles is in County Tipperary, Ireland and is principally a National Hunt course with meetings between October and March.
Famous winners at Thurles include Amberleigh House, Don Cossack and Sizing John. There are also occasional flat racing meetings here and 1993 Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop made a winning debut at this course.
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Betting at Thurles – The Big Meetings
Regular Thursday meetings, known locally as “Thurles Thursdays”, continue throughout the winter months. There is a flat meeting here in late October, which features the Moyne Handicap over 1m and the Littleton Handicap over 1m4f.
Their most valuable meeting is a Sunday card in January featuring the Kinloch Brae Chase, run as the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase in 2019, and the Coolmore Mares Novice Chase.
The Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle takes place in February and the Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase is the featured event in the late March fixture. The John Meagher Memorial Chase is staged in November.
Thurles Betting – The Big Races
There are three Grade 2 National Hunt races at Thurles. The Coolmore Mares Novice Chase is over 2m4f and is open to five-year-olds and upwards. It was originally known as the Anaglog’s Daughter Novice Chase. The Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle is over the same distance.
The Kinloch Brae Chase is over 2m4f and is restricted to six-year-olds and upwards. This is one of the big Thurles betting races of the season and has been won by two Cheltenham Gold Cup winners and a Grand National winner in recent times.
The John Meagher Memorial Chase is a Listed race over 2m6f.
Thurles Betting Tips
Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott dominate the Thurles betting and both have enjoyed plenty of success at this track. Mullins has maintained an excellent strike rate in chases, hurdles and bumper races at this meeting in recent seasons.
Jessica Harrington is a trainer to follow for your Thurles tips in steeplechases, while Henry de Bromhead has done particularly well with his hurdlers at this venue.
Davy Russell and Robbie Power top the statistics over fences and Jack Kennedy is a jockey to keep on your side for your Thurles bets over hurdles.
There are only limited flat meetings, but anything sent here by Aidan O’Brien is certain to feature prominently in the Thurles betting. Visit news.williamhill.com for all the horse racing betting news and the latest Thurles odds.
Thurles Course Characteristics
Thurles is a sharp right-handed, undulating track of about 10f. There are seven fences to be jumped on each circuit.
There’s a sharp descent into the 2f home straight before meeting a steep uphill finish.
The track has a short run-in of about a furlong from the last fence. Thurles is better suited to the sharp, efficient jumper, rather than long-striding National Hunt-bred horses.
The ground can get churned up on the inside in very wet conditions and jockeys sometimes take their horses out wider in the home straight.
Famous Thurles Races and Racehorses
Notable winners of the Kinloch Brae Novice Chase include subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Don Cossack (2015 and 2016) and Sizing John (2017).
Don Cossack was a strong Thurles tip when winning here for the first time, with his main market rival Champagne Fever falling at the last fence.
He was one of the shortest-priced winners in history here on his next visit, returning at Thurles odds of 1/8 favourite. Don Cossack suffered a tendon injury a month after winning the Gold Cup and was eventually retired without racing again.
Sizing John began a winning sequence of five when landing some Thurles bets here in January 2017. Jessica Harrington’s gelding beat the favourite Sub Lieutenant by two-and-a-half lengths. He won the Irish Gold Cup, Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Punchestown Gold Cup before rounding off the year in the John Durkan Memorial Chase.
Amberleigh House won the race in 2000 and went on to win the Grand National in 2004. He was trained by Michael Hourigan in his early days, but joined Ginger McCain, trainer of Aintree legend Red Rum.
Other notable winners of the race include Newmill (2006 and 2010) and Native Upmanship (2002, 2003 and 2004).
Native Upmanship was a popular Thurles tip and contested most of the leading chases in Britain and Ireland for Arthur Moore. His biggest career victories came in the Melling Chase at Aintree in 2002 and 2003, but he was also runner-up in the Queen Mother Champion Chase twice.
Klairon Davis won at Thurles and went on to win the Arkle Chase and the Champion Chase at Cheltenham. Newmill was a shock 16/1 winner of the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the 2006 Cheltenham Festival. He defeated a field that included Kauto Star and Moscow Flyer.
Vintage Crop made his debut in a 2m race on the flat at Thurles in October 1991. He then won over hurdles before reverting to the flat. He established himself as a leading stayer when winning the Cesarewitch at Newmarket by eight lengths in 1992. He went on to win the Melbourne Cup in 1993 and the Irish St Leger in 1993 and 1994.
Notable winners of the Michael Purcell Memorial include Cooldine (2008), Hidden Cyclone (2011) and Sub Lieutenant (2015).
Vroum Vroum Mag won the Coolmore Mares Novice Hurdle in 2015. She won the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2016 and was runner-up to Apple’s Jade in the same race in 2017.
Thurles Horse Racing History
Racing first took place at Thurles in 1732 with a three-day festival meeting. The racecourse had only around 20 stables and relied heavily on support from neighbours to accommodate the visiting runners.
Thurles has been gradually developed and improved over the years and has a reputation for providing beautiful ground, even in the worst of Irish winters.
Thurles racecourse has been in the Molony family since the early 1900’s and is now the only privately-owned racecourse in Ireland.
Pierce Molony took over the management of the track from a local committee. The running of the course was passed on to his son Dr Paddy in the 1960’s and then his son Pierce in 1974.
Pierce sadly passed away in 2015 with the racecourse now managed by his wife Riona and their four daughters. Maintaining such a rural venue as a private concern is no easy task, but Thurles racing still has its place in the modern era.
Thurles Racecourse - How to get there
Thurles Racecourse is only a mile west of the town centre and five miles west of the N8 on the road to Limerick, Shannon and Galway. It’s 10 miles north of Cashel, 30 miles west of Kilkenny and 40 miles east of Limerick.
Thurles Railway Station is on the Dublin/Cork line and is only one mile from the track. There’s a free minibus service to take racegoers to and from the racecourse.
The nearest airport is Waterford, about 45 miles from the centre of Thurles. Shannon Airport is around 50 miles away from the course.
